Tom Lawlor says UFC 100 performance – in and out of the octagon – a sign of things to come

And while the Nevada State Athletic Commission reported Lawlor made $16,000 for his 55-second submission win over C.B. Dollaway at UFC 100 – not to mention the $100,000 he received for the evening’s “Submission of the Night” – Lawlor recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio) it was a third payment that had him truly excited.

“I even made a $100 off of Joe Lauzon,” Lawlor said. “We made a bet that I was going to shoot. He told me I was going to shoot. I told him, ‘No way in hell.’ Thankfully, I didn’t have to.”

It was Dollaway who shot in early on the evening’s preliminary card, and Lawlor locked in a textbook guillotine choke to put “The Doberman” to sleep.

The win had people talking, but then showing up the event’s weigh-ins with “Just Bleed” emblazoned on his chest and walking out to “Who Let the Dogs Out?” with Seth Petruzelli on a leash had already accomplished that.

“I was watching the last WEC card, and I was thinking, ‘What could I possibly do at the weigh-ins?'” Lawlor said. “‘I need to go ahead and do something to differentiate myself.’ Being on the undercard, really you only get so much attention.

“In this sport, some of it is about marketing yourself. I figured that the odds that my fight are going to get shown are probably slim to none. I need to make sure people are going to at least see my face out there so I can set myself up for the future.”

As it turned out, Lawlor was right. Despite the quick win, only a brief clip of the fight was shown on the evening’s pay-per-view broadcast.

“They showed the ending of the fight, and really the fight was only 55 seconds,” Lawlor said. “If somebody stuck around until the very end, they got to see pretty much all the action that went on in that fight, anyway.

“I’m pretty happy that at least people got to at least see my face and the haircut that I paid to get last week.”

“The Filthy Mauler” said his colorful behavior was an accurate reflection of his life and attitude outside the octagon.

“Life is somewhat short,” Lawlor said. “I’ve been around for 26 years now. I’m probably seven-eighths of the way through my life. I’d like to continue to have fun the rest of the time.

“I’m not going out there doing these things necessarily as a show. It is showmanship, but I’d probably be doing this stuff at home even if I wasn’t fighting.”

And after the impressive win and equally pleasing weigh-in came and fight-night ring entrance, Lawlor knows people will be watching intently the next time he makes his way to the cage. He just doesn’t know what else he can bring to the table.

“I’m not sure what else I can do,” Lawlor said. “Maybe the Techno Viking dance. But I’m white as hell and have no rhythm. That might be kind of rough.”

And for complete post-event coverage of UFC 100, check out the UFC Events section of MMAjunkie.com.

MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reported John Morgan and producer “Goze.” For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

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